Process of converting crude iron into malleable iron or steel



(No Model.)

G. L. ROBERT.

PROCESS OF GONVERTING CRUDE IRON INTO MALLEABLE IRON 0R STEEL.

No. 395,633. Patented Jan. 1, 1889.

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Ytren rare rnnr ritieni GUSTAVE L. ROBERT, OF STENAY, FRANCE, ASSIGNOR TO .lOl-IN IVESLEY BOOKVALTER, OF SPRINGFIELD, OHIO.

PROCESS OF CONVERTING CRUDE IRON INTO MALLEABLE IRON 0R STEEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 395,633, dated January 1, 1889. Application filed November 19, 1888. Serial No. 291,190. (No model.) Patented in England May 9, 1888, No. 6,886.

To all 1071/0112 'it may concern:

Be it known thai-I, GUsrAvn Louis ROBERT, a citizen ot the Republic of France, residing at Stenay, Department ot' the Meuse, Republic ot' France, have invented anew and useful Improvement in the Process ot' Converting Crude Iron into Malleable Iron or Steel, (pa-tented in Great Britain May 9, 1888, No. 11886,) ot" which the ,t'ollowin is a full, clear, and exact specitication.

This invention relates to that process oi converting' crude iron into malleable iron and steel set forth in my application tor Letters Patent, Serial No. 290,776, in which process limited portions of a body ot' molten metal arc successively violently agitated to spray or atomize such portions and separate the metal and the impurities, while the main body ot' material is not so acted upon, but supports the separated impurities in a comparatively quiescent state.

For the purpose oli' impartingI the desired violent agitation to limited portions oi the metal, I have made use ol' a blast ol air which impinges upon a limited portion of the metal at one time and strips the same from the main body, finely atomizes or divides the whole or the greater part ot the portion acted upon, and projects it toward one side oit the converter in the presence of the convertingI agentwfor instance, oit' the oxygen ot' the airblast.

Inasmuch as the blast acts with the at'oresaid stripping action upon only a limited portion of the inet-al at a time, it is necessary to provide some means tor brin ging every portion of the bath repeatedly within the area of violent agitation and conversion, and I have devised means whereby this may be effected by the action of the blast itself, as hereinafter fully described.

For the purpose ot' illustratingl my invention I have shown an apparatus by means o1' which it may be carried out, Figure l being an elevation of a tilting' converter illustrating its position at the beginning ot' the process; Fig. 2, an elevation of the converter in the position occupied later in the process, and Fig. 3 a sectional plan on the line l 2 3 4, Fig'. 2.

A is the body of the converter, and at one side of the same and extending around only a portion of its circumference I place aseries of tuyeres, a, so arranged that they will torni at their inner ends a straight line parallel with the axis of the converter and also parallel with the natural surface of the metal in the converter. The tuyeres are so arranged or the converter is so tilted that the blast will be delivered at a point adjacent to the natural level of the metal in such manner as to strip off a portion only of the metal at a time and project the same in finely-divided particles toward the opposite side ot the converter. The blast thus impinging upon the body ol' metal at a part only of the periphery or outer face ot' the same not only strips off the limited portion ot metal with which it immediately contacts, but also acts mechanically to overcome the inertia ot the mass and impart thereto a gyrating motion in the direction of the arrows, Fig. l, that brings every portion of the bath repeatedlywithin the area of violent agitation without so agitating the main body or imparting thereto vortices 0r currents that would carry the scoria back into the mass. I also incline the tuyeres so that the air will enter in a direction at a tangent to the inner periphery of the converter. The tuyeres being thus arranged in a straight line and horizontal plane, when a charge is converted, by tiltingI t-he converter the metal is caused to leave the mouths of all the tuyeres simultaneously, and the operator may at once bring the air-blast to any desired angle or to any desired depth below the normal surface of the metal during,` the process of conversion simply by inclining the converter to the required angle, and thus regulate at will and with precision the necessary quantity of metal presented to the blast and establish that delicate relation ot the quantity of air and metal, as well as other relative conditions, which experience quickly points out as -indispensable in producing` the best results, whatever may be the nature or quality of the crude metal operated upon.

In order to impart a horizontal circulation to the metal the blast is directed on converging lines toward one side of the converter, so as to act mainly upon the metal at one side of the vertical axis of the converter, and thus IOO there is given to the metal a rotary motion about the vertical axis of the converter. The force of the air-blast draws the metal from the bottom upward, and as it is forced across and accumulates at a higher level on the opposite side of the converter, as shown in Fig'. 2, there is formed at that point a tendency of the metal to liow downward. From these two causes a quick vertical rotary motion induced. The union of this more rapid vertical with the slower horizontal motion imparts to the whole mass of metal a spiral rotary motion, which. insures a complete circulation in the entire body of the metal that will bring with certainty and requisite speed every particle of metal to the mouth of the tuyeres*a process that is repeated un til every atom of iron has received its due quantum of oxygen and the impurities are all separated. By imparting'this uniform, regular, and relatively slow rotary motion to the metal en masse there are however no violent currents induced having` the effect to draw the seoria and other impurities down into the metal, but

it will thus be left to remain Heating on the surface.

I do not claim the apparatus illustrated, as the same constitutes the subj ect of a separate application for Letters Patent, Serial No. 248,578.

I claim- In the conversion of molten cast or crude iron into malleable iron or steel, the mode, substantially as hereinbefore described, consisting' in applying' the air-blast to a portion only of the molten metal at the surface of the bath and directingY the blast toward one side of the mass, creating' thereby a gyrating eirculation of the metal, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof l have signed my name to this specification in the presence oftwo subscribing' witnesses.

GUSTAVE L. ROBERT.

lVit-nesscs:

J. S. BARKER, F. L. FREEMAN. 

